"Windows 10 installation has failed"

[Resalg]

A few weeks ago, attempting to install Windows 10 updates resulted in this error message: "Couldn't complete update/Undoing changes" Chatting with an agent on help.microsoft.com led to more than three hours of troubleshooting. In addition to other steps, I was instructed to use the Windows media creation tool which did not allow the option to keep my files and programs, so I avoided using it. This led to two more sessions with two more agents who walked me through some of the same troubleshooting steps and the advice to use the media creation tool. Frustrated, I backed up my personal files and made a list of all the programs I'd have to reinstall, and then ran the tool with the intention of doing a complete installation. This resulted in an error message which said: "Windows 10 installation has failed"--twice! Is there some other way to reinstall Windows 10?

HP Pavilion Desktop Windows 10 Version 20H2 (Build 19042.631)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz 2.81 GHz

 

[Bighorn]

One way is to use the USB drive or the .iso file in File Explorer [renamed from Windows Explorer in earlier versions] and on the USB drive double-click the setup.exe file to do an Upgrade install. For the .iso file right-click and Mount it then do the same. I get the third choice in the download using MCT that gives me both x86 and x64 versions so an additional step for me is to change to the appropriate folder then to the setup.exe file. My favorite for a clean install is to wipe all partitions out to give the drive an as-shipped condition BUT I have to assure a copy of files, anything that exists nowhere else, has been saved to a different drive.

 

[Resalg]

Thank you for writing! I have run the setup.exe file in the Windows media tool from a USB drive only to get the message, "Windows 10 installation has failed." Unfortunately, I am not tech savvy enough to understand the other options you describe. I'm looking for an alternative method for installing Windows 10.